Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints receiver Devery Henderson scores on one of six touchdown passes thrown by Drew Brees against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at the Superdome.

Grading the New Orleans Saints' performance in their 45-27 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday at the Superdome.

OFFENSE: 3 1/2 fleur-de-lis

They lose just a few style points for Drew Brees' interception (which was forgivable because it amounted to a punt deep down the field) and Mike Bell's fumble (unforgivable because the Saints were trying to protect a second-half lead). Also, a holding penalty against new tight end David Thomas nullified a Reggie Bush touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, though it didn't matter much at that point. Other than that, this was a masterful performance by perhaps the NFL's most dangerous offense. Brees was about as good as he's ever been, throwing for 358 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. Just about every receiver seemed to get involved with terrific catches. And tailback Mike Bell was a workhorse, running for a career-best 143 yards on 28 carries. Thanks mostly to Bell, the Saints converted all five third-and-1 attempts and finished 9-of-13 overall on third downs.

Ignore those 27 points. This was really a "shut-down" effort by the new-look Saints defense, which forced three interceptions and held the Lions to 231 total yards and 33 net rushing yards. Detroit did break one big play -- a 64-yard pass to dangerous receiver Calvin Johnson when he got matched up against rookie corner Malcolm Jenkins, who was filling in as an injury replacement. Other than that, the Lions' scores were mostly set up by their defense and special teams. In fact, the Saints nearly put together two goal-line stands when Detroit took over possession inside the red zone -- allowing a hard-fought touchdown and a field goal. Rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford was sacked only once, but he did little damage with 205 passing yards and a QB rating of 27.4.

Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints returner Reggie Bush loses one of his two fumbles against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at the Superdome.

SPECIAL TEAMS: 1 fleur-de-lis.

There were a few nice moments: New kickoff returner Robert Meachem broke free for 42 yards on the opening return and set up a touchdown with another 41-yard kickoff return in the second half, and rookie punter Thomas Morstead looks like he'll stick as the team's kickoff specialist. But there were a whole lot of ugly moments. Reggie Bush fumbled two punt returns, recovering one and losing the other to the Lions; kicker John Carney had a 34-yard field-goal attempt blocked before halftime, and Detroit got consistent penetration on early extra-point attempts; the Lions broke off some huge gains in the return game, including an 87-yard kickoff return and a 43-yard punt return; the Saints didn't muster much on any other kickoff or punt returns besides Meachem's two breakaways.

COACHING: 3 fleur-de-lis.

They don't deserve much of the blame for the sloppy play -- the fumbles, for example, are on the players. But those special teams woes need to get cleaned up. Other than that, it's hard to argue with the game plan on offense or defense that led to a quick 14-0 start. And they deserve praise for the way they responded on both sides of the ball after Detroit's series of mini-rallies in the second and third quarter. And it shouldn't go unnoticed that Sean Payton is off to a perfect 1-0 start in replay challenges, reversing his trend from last year.